Now is the perfect time to redeem your frequent flyer miles

Gone are the days when you'd spend hours on the phone trying to redeem your frequent flier miles just to be told that all of the good seats are gone. For the first time in recent memory, travelers can book trips to popular destinations over spring break using their miles.

A perfect storm of events is creating a once-in-a-decade opportunity to get a dream trip for free. (Free, if using thousands of precious miles counts as free.) And all of this comes at a time that rivals summer for some airlines as their busiest travel period of the year.